Ukraine claims over 1,700 African soldiers fighting for Russia in war

It has been claimed that over 1,780 African soldiers are fighting for Russia in the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Saybiha made the claim at a joint press conference after meeting with Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzheto Ablakawa in the capital, Kiev, on Wednesday (February 25).
At the press conference, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said, “We can clearly see that Russia is drawing African citizens into this war through various deceptive tactics. According to the information we have, currently more than 1,780 citizens of various African countries are fighting for Russia.”
Stating that the soldiers were brought from 36 countries on the African continent, Saybiha said that poor African youths were first brought to Russia with the promise of jobs and then joined the army. He also claimed that several such incidents had occurred in recent months.
Meanwhile, in a press conference, Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakawa, supporting Saibehar’s claim, said that the African soldiers fighting in the Russian army had no previous experience as soldiers or fighters. They were lured to Russia with the promise of ordinary jobs on the dark web and then forced to join the army.
The Ghanaian foreign minister told a press conference that Ghana and a coalition of African countries, the African Union, would work to prevent African youth from joining the Russia-Ukraine war.

Source: Reuters